Kidnapping and Explosions
by Selene Illusinia
Summary: Darcy gets kidnapped. The experience leaves her a little shaken, so what does she do? Invents. Tony isn't particularly happy with the results. Post 'Traumatizing Facts', '3 am Deals', and 'The Confusion of Dating a Stark'.


**With Darcy being Tony's daughter, I had to do a kidnapping scene and the aftermath (really, it was just an excuse to give Darcy a shiny new toy). Plus, I may or may not have a massive cross-over partially planned that really requires her new toy for shits and giggles. Anyway, thank you to HeroInTraining for betaing this and my co-worker Tim for helping me come up with the group who kidnaps Darcy. You two are the best.**

**Enjoy everyone!**

**- Illusinia**

* * *

"You idiots! What have you done!"

A sharp female voice slowly started to bring Darcy back to consciousness. It wasn't a voice she recognized at all.

"That isn't Potts!"

_Potts?_ wondered Darcy as her mind started to come back online. _What would someone want with me? Or Mom? What happened?_

"We hit the limo, just like you said. She was the only passenger." The guy who spoke up sounded more than a little uneasy. Possibly scared.

_Limo? What was I doing in a-oh, right._

Slowly, her memory began to clear as bits and pieces of images which had been half-formed before started to fall into place. She'd called Pepper almost a week ago to ask what city she and Tony were currently in so Darcy could fly out and meet them. They'd been in New York, so Darcy had arranged to fly into JFK. Pepper had said she'd pick her up but a meeting had come up last minute and Pepper was forced to order a car for Darcy instead (having her picked up in a Stark car was too conspicuous). Someone had thrown a gas canister into the limo before they were even off the airports premises, which was the last thing Darcy actually remembered clearly. There was a faint memory of hitting the panic button built into her cellphone, but it was hazy at best.

"Then you hit the wrong limo," growled the woman. Darcy continued to play dead, even though she could feel the woman's eyes on her. She needed to know what was going on. "I can't believe this. All my plans, ruined!"

"Maybe he'll still come?" suggested another man uneasily. Darcy hadn't been aware of him before now, but that was largely because the guy hadn't spoken. She really wanted to open her eyes a little to see what was happening, but figured that might give away the fact that she was awake.

Someone snorted, possibly unknown man #1, and there was a smack like flesh striking wood. Then, the woman was talking again. Darcy could swear she sounded familiar. "As if Iron Man would waste his time coming after some random girl. Ugh, I can't believe you hit the wrong limo!"

"We didn't!" countered unknown man #1. "We spotted the guy holding the sign that read 'Potts' on it in the airport and followed him from the terminal. That girl is the one who approached him and claimed the reservation."

"Hm," hummed the woman suspiciously. "Maybe she's not as disassociated as she seems. Perhaps we can still kill Iron Man."

That woke Darcy up. Her head snapped up, turning towards the woman who had been speaking up until now. Rapidly she blinked her eyes to clear away the spots floating there and tried not to get sick as her stomach lurched at the movement. All three of the previously audible inhabitants of the room turned to stare at her blankly. A third unknown man she hadn't heard before was standing next to the door, watching everything.

Unknown men #1 and #2 looked like rejects from some kind of bad costume contest. #1 literally looked like he'd bundled himself up in a haystack then wrapped a metal barrel ring around his waist to hold it in place. #2 didn't look any better in his green leotard, yellow speedo, and random jagged star-shaped mask.

Unknown man #3, the one she didn't think she'd heard before, looked a hell of a lot scarier than the first two. Normally she'd say the red cat-suit was too much for anyone (yes, even Peter), but on this guy it looked scary as fuck. Though that might be the red mask that went with it, complete with black eye rings. Or the two swords she could see over his shoulders. The utility belt he was wearing looked pretty bad-ass too.

Darcy's eyes drifted to the woman and she felt a ball of dread fall into the pit of her stomach. Oh yeah, the woman was definitely the scary one of the group. It wasn't even that her clothes were that freaky or her appearance. Black jump-suit with white over-tunic and white gloves. It worked on her, especially with the black hair. No, what gave Darcy the creeps (besides the fact that the woman looked like she could kick the crap out of you) was the golden mask that covered her face.

"It seems our guest is awake," drawled the woman, a cruel smile audible under the mask. Her head cocked a little to the side as she examined Darcy with slightly narrowed eyes. "Hm, I was right. You do look familiar."

Darcy mimicked the action, eyes carefully taking in the woman. Her appearance was hard to place with the mask and costume, but her voice was really familiar... "Didn't I catch you sneaking out of Tony's room once?"

The woman froze for a moment, eyes wide. "How the hell...of course, you're Potts' daughter. The one who's always blowing things up!"

Those words...she definitely knew that voice but could hardly believe it. There was no way. None at all. Darcy couldn't stop the startled whisper that fell from her mouth. "Krissy?"

An explosion and half of the wall between her and the masked insane woman being blown into the room cut off any further discussion. Of course, she knew what had blown in the wall and suddenly she was terrified for the person for fired the blast. Her dad's energy weapons were distinct.

Sure enough, Iron Man came bursting into the room not a second later. And he was pissed.

"Give me back my daughter!" shouted Tony as he rounded on the group of villain wanna-be's.

Red-mask guy stood up sharply. "Daughter? You took the man's daughter? What is wrong with you! This is _not_ what I signed up for. You are one sick woman, Masque." Pushing away from the wall, he turned and wondered towards a door leading out of the room with a wave over his shoulder. "I am out of here! This is not worth _any_ amount of chimichanga's."

For a moment, everyone just blinked as the clearly-insane man walks from the room like he's exiting a friendly gathering where he'd been offended.

"What the fuck?" asked Tony, head turning towards the masked woman. "Wade Wilson, Masque? Really?"

The golden-masked woman, apparently called Masque, shrugged. "The man is good at what he does."

"He's insane," pointed out Tony, arms folding across his chest as if this whole situation weren't one giant cluster-fuck type thing.

It took the feel of hands on her bound wrists for Darcy to realize her dad was attempting to divert attention away from her. There was sensation of cool metal passing over her skin for a second before the bonds holding her hands fell away. The ones on her ankles disappeared a second later.

"When I tug on your wrist, we run," murmured Natasha's familiar voice right beside her ear. Darcy just gave her a thumbs up behind her back.

"Yes, well, apparently he's not as good as advertised," growled the woman.

"Yeah, speaking of that, I want my daughter back," shot back Tony, his body shifting into a fighting stance. "Taking someone's kid is low, even for you."

The masked woman might have scowled at that. "As if I knew she was your daughter! You never told me about her! Everyone referred to her as Potts' daughter. By the way, really Tony? Your secretary? Is there _any_ woman at Stark Industries you haven't slept with? I'd think one child would be enough to change your ways."

"Pep and I never slept together," fired back Tony. "Pep adopted her. And you know what? I'd love to have more kids like her! She's the best daughter I could ask for and you're going to pay for taking her!"

Natasha tugged on Darcy's arm at that moment. Darcy took the cue to roll out of the chair, scramble to her feet, and dodge towards the large hole in the wall. She barely cleared it before the actual fighting began.

As soon as she was clear of the room, the rest of the Avengers who had been waiting just outside the hole swarmed in. Agent Hill grabbed Darcy's arm and pulled her away from the building as the sounds of fighting echoed from inside. Darcy followed the woman as quickly as she could (her legs were still shaking badly from whatever drug they used to knock her out) across the parking lot from the warehouse where she'd been held and straight across a S.H.I.E.L.D barrier where Pepper and Fury were waiting impatiently.

Pepper latched onto Darcy immediately, pulling her into a tight hug that Darcy returned without thought. Her mind was a mess, thoughts racing as the adrenaline that was coursing through her body made her mind fuzzy. Or maybe it was a side effect of the knock-out gas. Either way.

Fury was shouting orders as soon as Darcy was across the barrier and medics had to practically pry her from her mother's arms to check for injuries. Darcy wasn't really that keen on being separated from Pepper either, but the dizziness was getting worse and that pesky nausea had come back so it couldn't really hurt either.

They had cleared her by the time the Avengers emerged from the warehouse, bruised and slightly battered. There might be some singeing too (Steve's hair looked a little shorter) but it could be her imagination. She was laying on a stretcher par medical instructions but started to sit up as the others approached.

Tony broke into a run when he saw her with Clint close behind. Of course, the archer was moving a little slower intentionally to give Tony the chance to reach Darcy first. She'd have to thank him later.

Her father's arms wrapped around her like two metal bands, careful not to squeeze her too hard but clearly having difficulty restraining himself. Pepper intervened before anything got out of hand and convinced Tony to strip out of the suit. Tony left to do as instructed, giving Clint the chance to cut in and hug her himself.

Clint was gentler than Tony in some ways, though he did hug her hard enough that she felt a little dizzy afterwords. That could have been the knock-out gas too. Apparently she had some kind of allergic reaction to it. She dropped her head onto his shoulder as he hugged her, returning the gesture as best she could. One of his hands slid through her hair as he held her.

"God Darce, I was so worried. Thank god you're alive," murmured Clint as he finally pulled back enough to look her in the face.

Darcy gave him a semi-lopsided grin. "Hey, us Potts are resilient."

"So are Stark's," muttered Clint quietly. "I've seen the number of times both you and Tony have blown yourselves up. Doesn't mean I'm not relieved you're okay."

Her grin slides into a soft smile and one of her hands comes up to touch his face. "You okay too?"

"I'm fine now that you're safe," confirmed Clint as he leaned in to kiss her gently, his arms wrapping around her.

"Hey! Hand's off while I'm around Barton!" Tony's voice draws both Darcy and Clint's attention towards him. He's scowling slightly as he looks between them. "I know you and Darcy are screwing like hyperactive bunnies but I don't need to actually _see_ any indication of that."

"You can't talk Dad," pointed out Darcy with a roll of her eyes. "I'm pretty damn sure you slept with the psycho lady that kidnapped me."

Tony's face falls and he looks more than a little crushed at her unintentional accusation. Pepper is quick to break in before a fight can start. "Darcy, your father didn't have any control over that."

"I wasn't blaming him," corrected Darcy. "I don't remember there being anything wrong with Krissy when she worked for Dad." Krissy's words float back into her mind, unbidden. Her next words are quiet, far softer than her previous ones. "I really don't remember her wanting to kill Dad."

There's an uncomfortable moment when no one talks. Clint wraps an arm around Darcy's shoulders and kisses her forehead. Tony and Pepper exchange looks, Pepper clearly upset and Tony apologetic.

Darcy breaks the moment by clearing her throat and pushing forward. "So who were the other freaks? The guy with the swords was weird."

"Yeah, Wade is like that," confirmed Clint with a sigh as he strokes her hair. "The other two were class B villains named Porcupine and Electro."

"Electro? Seriously?" asked Darcy with a cocked eyebrow. "Wow, that's random."

Clint shrugged. "He deals in electricity. Its not the most creative name but its apt."

"Not what I meant," sighed Darcy. "Don't worry about it."

Tony and Clint were both giving her worried looks now but she ignored them in favor of attempting to sit all the way up with her legs over the edge of the stretcher. When her stomach didn't try to jump out of her throat, she slid to the ground and tested her legs. Which apparently still didn't work. Luckily, Clint caught her so she didn't land on her ass.

"Whoa there, easy Darce," admonished Clint gently. "Don't hurt yourself."

Darcy groaned and let Clint scoop her up. "This sucks. Why'd I have to get gassed again?"

"Cause someone wanted your dad dead," reminded Clint. "Come on, lets get you home."

"Yeah, home," agreed Darcy as she closed her eyes and leaned her head on Clint's shoulder.

* * *

"_Maybe we can still kill Iron Man." _

_She could hear Madame Masque's words echoing through her ears and bouncing around unseen walls. Ropes bit into her wrists as Darcy struggled to free herself from the chair she was tied to. One floating in a black void. _

"_Death to Iron Man. His daughter will be his downfall."_

_The ropes seemed to tighten the more Darcy struggled. There was no getting free. She couldn't bring herself to stop struggling either. Stark's never gave up._

"_He's dead." Suddenly, a spotlight flooded the space to the left of her revealing a dead and broken body beside her. The blank eyes of her father stared up at her._

_Her heart stopped. Breath died in her throat. So did her scream. For a moment, she couldn't speak. Couldn't breath. Nothing was processing. The world stopped._

_Then everything started again and she screamed._

* * *

Darcy shot up in bed breathing heavily. Her body was covered in sweat and her limbs were shaking with the adrenaline rush. Beside her, the bed was empty. Vaguely, she recalled Clint kissing her forehead before leaving the room earlier with a promise to return. Something about a mission.

Groaning, she shifted so her legs were hanging over the side of the bed and rubbed her forehead. "JARVIS, what's the time?"

"2:03 am, Darcy," replied JARVIS's crisp voice. "Shall I turn on the lights?"

"No," replied Darcy as she carefully slid out of bed. Her eyes could easily navigate the space without additional lighting. The chilled air of the room hit her naked skin, bringing her further into wakefulness. "Where's Dad?"

"Tony and the rest of the Avengers have been deployed to handle a disturbance in Russia. Would you like me to contact him?"

"That's alright JARVIS, he's busy." Just knowing he's alive was a comfort to her.

Moving around the room carefully, she began to pick up scattered articles of clothing. She pulled on one of Clint's shirts and a pair of her tattered jeans. The knees were pretty much gone but she wasn't going out in public at 2 am no matter what her father did. She did know when she wouldn't be sleeping again though. Especially when she wouldn't be sleeping for a few days.

Quietly, she slipped out of the room and into the darkened hallway of the mansion. Even though everyone was probably gone save Pepper and Jane (who wouldn't wake up easily if they were asleep), Darcy still crept around like she would wake someone. Call it habit, but she didn't need the questions right now.

Her journey to the kitchen was thankfully uneventful and she found fresh coffee already prepared when she arrived. A note was propped beside it in Clint's careful handwriting. She picked it up while reaching for a cup, eyes tracing the familiar scrawl.

_Darce-_

_We got called out to deal with something, sorry I can't be there. You've been tossing around all night so I'm gonna go out on a limb and assume you won't be sleeping for much longer. Thus, coffee. I'll see you when I get back._

_- Clint_

If anyone ever said Clint wasn't sweet to her face, she'd deck 'em. Seriously, Steve might be a sweetie but Clint was sweeter under the cocky jackass mask he seemed to favor.

Pouring herself a cup of the still fresh coffee, Darcy leaned against the counter and let the liquid warm her. Everything from her dream was still chillingly sharp. Especially the image of her dad laying dead on the ground. Because of her. Because she couldn't defend herself. Yeah, she had a taser and she loved that thing to pieces. But in the limo, there hadn't been time to dig it out. She needed something more accessible and effective.

Taking her cup, she turned towards where her workshop was and headed down. Sleep wasn't an option tonight anyway, that much she knew. It would probably be a few days before she even tried to sleep again. But she could work to take her mind off of things. Build. Invent. Its what she did when she had a problem to solve. She wouldn't be a liability or leverage. Not ever again.

* * *

Steve sighed as he looked down the hallway, spotting Clint where he was leaning against the glass wall that looks into Darcy's workshop. She'd locked herself in there two days ago while they were away on a mission and hasn't emerged since then. Clint was practically climbing the walls. Apparently she'd locked everyone out, including those she normally gave free reign to.

Tony and Pepper were both inclined to leave her alone for a few days. Pepper especially recalls Tony's kidnapping and Darcy's reaction to that (which had been to invent super-radar) and insisted her daughter was fine. Apparently, separation from everyone else so she could invent new and crazy things was pretty standard for 'freaked-out Darcy'. Steve wasn't so sure she was freaked-out so much as scared or depressed. Freaked out should have passed by now.

"Any sign of her?" Steve keeps his voice neutral. Tonight isn't about Darcy or his worry for her. Tonight's visit is about getting Clint to go upstairs and sleep in a bed like a normal person rather

than propped up by the wall. Plus the archer is starting to reek a little.

Clint shakes his head with a solemn sigh. "Not yet."

Steve echoes that sigh. "Think she's sleeping?"

"Inventing," corrects Clint as he turns his head towards the door. "She won't sleep in there. Not right now."

The words are so knowing that Steve can't help but dig a little. Darcy's sleeping patterns are a mystery to him. "How do you know?"

Clint grunts a little and leans his head against the glass wall. There are circles under his eyes. "She gets nightmares. Bad ones. Usually they're related to Tony getting killed and when she gets one, it'll be three days before she sleeps again. After she's banished the last of the images."

Steve winces. Yeah, he can see how that might make someone dodge sleep. Darcy doesn't have military training and hasn't seen any real battles but fearing for Tony's life could cause those kinds of nightmares. "So we have one more day of this?"

"Probably," confirms Clint with an unhappy sigh. One of his hands comes up to run through his hair. "Is this how she feels you think? Whenever we go out? This anxious waiting for any sign of what's going on?"

It doesn't take Steve long to answer that question. He recalls worrying for his friends before he became the super-soldier he is now. "Yeah, I'd imagine its similar."

Clint nods, that unhappy look still plastered on his face. "Wow, this sucks."

"At least there isn't the chance she'll get killed by something non-explosive," points out Steve in an attempt to be soothing. Really, they've seen no evidence that Darcy is even working on anything dangerous. Unlike when Tony locks himself in his workshop, Darcy has managed to avoid setting off any explosions. "Either way, you aren't doing her any good standing here." One of his hands reaches out to steer Clint away from the wall. Amazingly, he comes along without a fight. "Come on, lets go upstairs. I'm sure she'll come see you when she finishes whatever crazy thing she's doing now."

The archer looks like he wants to object but Steve is slightly pushing him down the hallway now with the firm sort of grip that implies Clint doesn't have a choice. There isn't any real battle over if Clint is going to sleep upstairs tonight or not. He knows better than to argue with Steve. Instead, he lets Steve maneuver him upstairs to his room. And really, sleeping in a normal bed doesn't sound like a bad idea at all.

* * *

Three rapid fire explosions shake the mansion the following morning, awakening every member of the Avengers and sending them flying for their gear. In less than five minutes, everyone is standing armed in the main corridor with Jane and Pepper heading to take cover in the basement with Darcy. For a second, all six of the Avengers glance between each other before another series of explosions has them crashing through the back door of the mansion and into the yard beyond.

The air ripples unnaturally in front of them, cutting off their access to the yard. Its followed by a very loud boom that practically rocks the ground they're standing on. Tony can hear something blow apart at the other end of the yard and his eyes cut to his right where the sonic waves were headed. Which is when he notices the five test dummies which have been set up at the other end of the yard. Three of them are destroyed, the destroyed ones interspersed with those still intact. Tony's eyes cut to the left where the source of the sonic waves came from. Where everyone else is staring slack-jawed.

Darcy is standing at the other end of the yard, an almost skeletal version of one of his own gauntlets stretched across her hand. Its mostly a disk in the center of her palm with three different plated straps running around her hand: one from beneath her thumb, one between her thumb and index finger, and one wrapping from around the edge beneath her pinkie. Small plated 'fingers' cover the palm side of her digits and help to focus the blast that she's aiming carefully down the yard. Each blast of the weapon causes a rather loud boom to echo around the space.

No one moves as she finishes firing at the dummies before lowering her hand. She hits some kind of a button on the device and it slides down, melting into a thick-looking bracelet decorated on the back with third-sized slices of a circle. It looks completely innocuous.

"Darce?" asks Tony as he hops the fence around the back deck and approaches his daughter carefully.

Darcy glances up and blinks, apparently having missed when they came outside. "Oh, hey Dad. Did I wake you?"

"A little," admits Tony as his eyes focus on her new 'toy'. "What is that thing?"

"Hm?" Her eyes follow his to her wrist. "Oh, this?" She holds up and points to the device. "Its a miniature sonic cannon. Basically, its the cannon you designed only smaller and a little more destructive."

Clint, who climbed down with Tony, slides up beside her to examine the bracelet. She lets him take her hand and wrist as Tony continues asking questions. "What about your taser?"

Darcy raises an eyebrow at her father. "What about it?"

"Are you going to replace it with that thing?" Tony gestures to her new weapon as he speaks, brow furrowed. He really isn't keen on the idea of his daughter having an actual weapon.

"No, I don't plan to," corrects Darcy. Her eyes have fallen to the bracelet she's wearing as well. "I just...when the limo got attacked, I didn't have the time to look for my taser. I couldn't defend myself and I just kept thinking that maybe if I'd had a weapon on hand I might have been able to escape and then you wouldn't have been in danger. None of you would have had to come after me. Not because I can't defend myself from some stupid B-grade villains with knock-out gas." Her eyes are firmly turned downwards now, which to Tony means she's tearing up at minimum.

Clint seems to get that too because he drops her hand in favor of rubbing her back gently. He glances at Tony for a moment, before turning back to Darcy. Tony doesn't even think about it as he gives Clint the 'go ahead look'. Clint doesn't hesitate to wrap his arms around her, tucking her up against his body.

"Darce," sighs Tony unhappily. "Look, no one expects you to escape in a situation like that and we'd all rather be in danger and get you home alive than run the risk that you'll get hurt. That includes by experimental weapons."

Darcy raises her head with an eye-roll and motions to the now-bracelet-previously-a-hand-cannon. "This thing isn't experimental. I just ran the last of the tests now. It works fine, I don't get hurt using it, and all the materials are stable."

"That isn't really the point-" starts Tony but Darcy cuts him off quickly with a look.

The look Darcy gives him is somewhere between exasperation and forced tolerance. Its a look everyone has seen Pepper give him before. "Dad, someone kidnapped me thinking I was Mom. Someone wanted to use Mom and later me as a way of getting at you. As a way of luring you to your death. There is no way in hell I'm going to be put in that position again, not without a fight. And this bracelet?" She holds up the arm displaying her newest invention. "This bracelet is the key to defending myself. Its not going anywhere."

Tony eyes the bracelet wearily. "You know your mother doesn't like it when you play with experimental weapons. Hell, she doesn't like weapons in the house period."

"Which is why the suit you built for her doesn't have any weapons, right?" asks Darcy accusingly.

Tony actually flinches and looks away from his daughter. Her eyes are narrowed in a way that reminds them all of Pepper's 'you're busted and dead' look. "How did you-"

"Josie," supplies Darcy with a scowl. "And JARVIS. You aren't the only one with an AI who can spy on people."

There's a moment where Tony actually flounders a little, unsure how to handle this. The rest of the Avengers look on in pain. Getting caught in a lie by your daughter can't be an easy pill to swallow under any circumstance.

Finally Tony finds his voice. "Darce, how do you know about the suit? Pep doesn't even know about that yet."

Darcy crosses her arms, looking away from the house unhappily. "I found it in your workshop the other day, when I went in there to borrow one of your tools."

"Shit," mutters Tony. "That's why you weren't in the house."

"What?" exclaims Clint, breaking in to their argument and leaning back to look at Darcy with narrowed eyes. "You weren't in the house? Where the hell were you!"

Darcy and Tony both give him a look that clearly says that was the wrong thing to say but Darcy cuts in before Tony can. Which Clint isn't sure is a good thing but at least he won't be hung off the side of a building. At least, he doesn't think he will be. "Why does it matter, Clint?"

At least she didn't ask 'why is it any of your business'. That would be harder to answer, because he knows they aren't dating so it really _isn't_ his business. Beyond the fact that he was worried sick. "It matters because I've been worried about you. Your lab was shut up tight and you weren't in bed when I got home. I've been sleeping outside your workshop for two days waiting for you to come out..." God that sounds more pathetic than he thought it would. Its the truth though and someone is bound to tell her eventually.

Darcy blinks at him for a moment, brow furrowed. "You thought I was in my workshop here?"

"Yes," sighs Clint, a hand running through his hair while his other arm remains firmly wrapped around her. "We all did."

"Really?" Her eyes cut to Tony and the annoyed look returns full-force. "Why didn't you tell him I was at the Tower?" The accusatory tone makes everyone flinch.

Tony winces a little and shrugs. "I thought you needed time alone. Didn't think you wanted company if you weren't here and you didn't tell him you were leaving yourself."

Darcy groans and rubs her forehead carefully. "For the record Clint, if my workshop is completely locked up and inaccessible then I'm not home and won't be for a few days at least. Or I'm extremely pissed off but even then I tend to not lock down my workshop completely unless I'm not here period. And if I'm not here but I'm supposed to still be in town, then I'm probably holed up in my workshop in Stark Tower. Unless I don't want to be found period, in which case Josie'll know where I am and she's got a list of people who are allowed to know where I am. Either way though, if you can't get into my workshop then I'm not home period and Josie can tell you where I am. Just ask her."

It was surprising to Clint that she'd so readily give him her location, even when she was pissed. It made him feel special to her. "Okay. So, next time ask Josie?"

"Yep," confirms Darcy as she refocuses on Tony. "Dad, will you feel better about my bracelet-sonic cannon if you examine it yourself?"

Tony doesn't appear to get whip-lash like everyone else from the sudden subject change, though he does consider what she's saying for a moment before answering. "Yeah, I can do that."

"Great," nods Darcy with a yawn as she detaches the device from her wrist and holds it out to Tony. "Don't break it. Now, the dancing trees are telling me to go to bed so I'm gonna do exactly that. See you guys in a few hours." She waves as she wonders inside and shuts the back door with a snap, leaving everyone else staring after her like she's mad.

Tony groans and rubs his eyes, bracelet securely gripped in one hand. "I can't believe I'm asking this, but can you go make sure she sleeps for more than two hours Barton? I know I do that, but not usually after three days of no sleep and if she's seeing talking plants that's kinda bad."

"Yeah, leave it to me," mutters Clint as he heads inside after the insane brunette he's starting to think might become his girlfriend eventually.

Tony drops his hand to examine the bracelet Darcy handed him once Clint is inside. Steve, who's been watching with everyone else, slips down to stand with Tony. "Are you really going to let her keep that thing?"

"If it's safe, yeah," confirms Tony as he flips the device over in his hands. "Looked safe when she was using it earlier."

Steve groans and heads back for the porch. "Just, please make sure she isn't going to blow her hand off with it. Or someone else's."

"Don't let her blow her hand off again, got it," mutters Tony as he flips his free hand at Steve as a way of shooing him.

Steve blanches a little but Pepper, who has just stepped outside, saves Steve from any kind of major panic. "He's kidding Steve. Darcy's never blown her hand off before."

"Thank god," mutters Steve with a shake of his head as he disappears back inside.

Everyone else follows except Tony and Pepper, who has climbed off the deck to comfort Tony. For several moments the two just stand there in silence, Tony focused on Darcy's new weapon and Pepper focused on Tony. His fingers trace the clover-shaped design on the front, made up from the circle thirds. Pepper's hand rests on his shoulder, keeping a degree of distance while offering him some comfort.

Tony is the one who speaks first. "She knows about your arc reactor."

Pepper flinches lightly but nods. "We knew she'd find out eventually Tony. The point was to keep her from worrying while we figured out if it would work."

"Which it does," adds Tony as reassurance to himself. A reminder. "It works perfectly."

"Yes," agrees Pepper, her eyes falling to the bracelet in his hands.

Tony sighs as he closes one hand around the bracelet. "She's mad with us again."

Pepper laughed softly and shook her head. "She's been mad at us before and she will be again. Things will work out Tony, just watch."

"What if they don't?" Pepper can hear the touch of fear in Tony's tone as he focus' on the bracelet. "What if she decides she doesn't want to be at risk anymore or that this is the last straw and runs? What if she just leaves and never comes back?"

"Tony," murmurs Pepper as she spins him around. Her other hand comes up to rest on his shoulders, drawing his eyes to her own. "Darcy loves you. Loves us both. She's not going to leave because of one kidnapping incident. This bracelet?" One finger jabs towards the object in Tony's hands. "This is proof she won't leave us. She's found a way to make herself feel safe while she's here. A way to protect herself from harm. If she was going to leave, she'd already be gone." Tony still looks doubtful, but there isn't much else Pepper can say to change his mind. Instead, she turns him towards the house and pushes him in the general direction of the back door. "Go look at her new toy. Make sure it's safe for her to use on a regular basis and stop worrying. I'll talk to her myself if you want."

"Could you?" Yeah, this side of Tony is one that Pepper always hates. The part that doubts himself and the love of those around him.

Pepper nods in reassurance and gives him a look that sends Tony scurrying inside. She follows a moment later, one of her hands coming up to touch the arc reactor hidden beneath her shirt. It's been almost two years since the accident that made the reactor necessary. That's two years they kept it a secret from Darcy. Hopefully, her adoptive daughter isn't too mad. Though knowing her, she would completely understand.

Taking another breath, Pepper walks inside and instructs JARVIS to alert her when Darcy is awake again. She considers her words for a moment, then adds an 'out of her room' clause to the alert before heading for her office. They would talk as soon as Darcy was up again. This discussion was long over-due.

* * *

**Yes, I am bringing in Rescue. I personally like the Rescue suit. If this bothers anyone, I apologize. For those of you who don't know who Rescue is, look up "Pepper Potts" on Wikipedia and there's an explanation of Rescue in there. Anyway, good? Bad? Kill? Burn? Please let me know if you have an opinion! Comments, questions, suggestions, and critical reviews are always welcome. Those help me improve the story.**


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